After flawed offensive performance, things should get easier for Tech

On Saturday's game vs. Iowa State, Texas Tech scored 31 points, but 14 of those came via defense and special teams. The Cyclone defense was able to pressure the Red Raiders into many key mistakes that eventually cost them the game.

With the game tied at 31 with 4:43 left in the game, The Texas Tech offense had a chance to put together a quality drive and escape Ames with a victory. Instead, the Tech offense Imploded. After freshman quarterback, Alan Bowman mishandled the handoff with running back, Demarcus Felton, chaos ensued. Bowman was left to run for his life in the back of his own endzone. The quarterback eventually threw the ball out bounds, but didn’t get it past the line of scrimmage. Because of this intentional grounding was called. The grounding call resulted in a safety that cost Tech the game.

The grounding mistake was one of the many mistakes that Bowman made. The freshman threw for 323 yards, but also threw 3 costly picks.

Bowman’s mistakes were not the only thing that held the Texas Tech offense back. The lack of balance was a killer. The Red Raiders only ran the ball 24 times for 30 yards. Its extremely difficult to be successful on offense when it appears the defense has had your playbook shipped to their sideline.

Overall, the Texas Tech offense moved the ball efficiently. The Alan Bowman led offense had 24 first downs and 363 total yards. However, the turnovers and the lack of a running game is what led to the demise of the Red Raiders.

The good news? Texas Tech will not have to see another defense all season that is as tough as the Cyclones are. In their remaining 4 games, Texas is the highest ranked defense that Tech will be forced play. The Longhorns are currently ranked as the 57th best defense in college football. In comparison, Iowa State was ranked at 19.

Next up, Tech will take on Oklahoma at 7PM eastern on ABC. The Sooner defense ranks as the 59th best defense in the nation.